Handle for coal-buckets or other vessels.



No. 735,554. PATENTED AUG. 4; 1903.-

R. L. MILLER.-

HANDLE FOR GOAL BUGKBTS OR OTHER VESSELS.

' 'APPLIOATION FILED MAR. 21. 1903.

N0 MODEL.

lieuenZjME'ZZer W VM, 332% UNITED "STATES Fatented August 4, 1903 REUBENL. MILLER, or ENON, oHIo.

HANDLE FOR COAL-BUCKETS OR OTHER VESS ELS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 735,554, dated August4, 1903.

Application filed Maroh 21, 1903- $erial1l'o. 148,830. (No model.)

T0 allwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, REUBEN L. MILLER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Enon, in the county of Clark and State of 'Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Handles for Coal-Bucketsor other Vessels, of which the following is a specification, referencebeing had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to handles for coalbuckets and other vessels, andhas for its object to provide a handle so constructed as to make thevessel carry evenly and prevent undue tilting of the vessel when loadedunevenly, while at the same time said handle will not interfere with theproper tilting of the vessel and the bringing of it into close proximityto the stove or other receptacle while being emptied.

To these ends my invention consists in certain novel features which Iwill now proceed to describe, and will then particularly point out inthe claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective viewillustrating one form of my invention, and Fig. 2 is a similar viewillustrating a modification thereof.

In said drawings, 1 indicates a coal-bucket of any approved constructionhaving the usual discharge-spout 2 at one side and the hand-grasp 3 atthe other side. To the upper portion of the bucket is connected myimproved handle, which consists of two bails 4 and 5, preferablyconstructed of wire and having their lower ends pivotally connected tothe bucket at separated points lying on opposite sides of the centraltransverse plane of the bucket. These pivotal connections are preferablyefiected by forming the lower ends of each bail into hooks 6, which passthrough apertures 7 in the bucket, said apertures being preferablymarginally strengthened by means of eyelets 8. Theapertures throughwhich the ends'of the rear bail 5 pass are preferably sufficiently largeto permit the lower bail to slide downward through said apertures on theexterior of the bucket. I also prefer to connect the upper parts of thetwo bails by means of a sleeve 9, apertured longitudinally for thepassage of the bails and forming a handle proper or hand-grasp, by meansof which both bails may be readily grasped.

It will be seen that since the two bails which form the handle areconnected to the bucket on opposite sides of the central transverseplane thereof in which the normal center of gravity lies, While theupper parts of the bails are held together either by the hand of theuser or by the sleeve 9, any tendency of the bucket to tilt unduly,owing to uneven loading, will be resisted by one bail or the other, asthe case may be. When it is desired to throw the handle back, so as topermit the bucket to be titled forward and brought close to the stove orother receptacle, so as to discharge its load, the front bail 4 maybepressed downward and backward, the rear bail slipping down through theapertures 7, so that the parts will assume the position shown in dottedlines in Fig. 1. They may be readily brought back to their normalposition (shown in full lines in Fig. 1) by pulling upward on the bails.

The rear bail need not necessarily be made of wire, as a flexibleconnection, such as the chain 10, (shown in Fig. 2,) maybe employed toconstitute the rear bail.

back of the point of connection of the front bail with the bucket, sothat the rear bail is practically always under tension when the bucketis being supported by the handle alone.

It is obvious that various other modifications in the details ofconstruction may be made without departing from the principle of myinvention. For instance, although I deem the hand-grasp sleeve 9, whichunites the upper ends of the bails, a desirable feature, it may bedispensed with. I therefore do not wish to be understood as limitingmyself strictly to the precise detailshereinbefore described, and shownin the accompanying drawings.

NVhile I have described my invention as applied to a coal-bucket, towhich it is particularly applicable, it is obviousthat it is alsoapplicable to other vessels.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, isr l. The combination, with aVessel-body, of a handle composed of two bails having their lower endspivotally connected to the body on opposite sides of the centraltransverse This is possible because the greater portion of the load liesplane thereof, the rear bail being yielding to permit the front bail tobe swung downward and rearward toward the body, substantially asdescribed.

2. The combination, with a vessel-body, provided with apertures arrangedin pairs on opposite sides of the central transverse plane thereof, of ahandle composed of two bails having terminal hooks to engage saidapertures respectively, the rear apertures being adapted to permit therear bail to slide downward therethrough, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with a vessel-body, provided with apertures arrangedin pairs on

